NYC — The Vegan City That Never Sleeps

Ah, the humble vegetable. If you’re laboring under the misapprehension that they’re only good for boiling, mashing or accessorizing your dish du jour, it’s time to wake up and smell the caramelized chicory. It’s amazing what is being created in NYC with a pinch of seasoning, a twist of lemon and a liberal sprinkling of culinary imagination. Like a flame under a burner, veganism has ignited the city with menus flaming new colors, flavors and textures that demand talent to perfect, and are by no means just for herbivores. Most people visit the city for the sights and the sounds, the glitz and the glamour, but why not check out the city’s vast vegan offering too while you’re there?

For the vegan with a sweet tooth and a tight belt, Manhattan’s Peacefood Café offers softly iced treats just waiting to be devoured. Patrons should find $5 enough to buy a couple of cookies, one eggless cupcake or a handful of mini-brownies, while palates of a more savory persuasion won’t have to part with too much more to procure a healthy ladleful of fresh soup, some quinoa salad or zesty sushi rolls. Of course, if you’re feeling more flush, you can enjoy any of the numerous main courses, which are still reasonable by New York City standards.

A more elaborate offering awaits your reservation in the East Village, where, in a well-lit and slick little enclave, Dirt Candy turns vegetables into elaborate fantasies. Their famous tomato cake ushers blushing little red balls onto on a podium of smoked feta, while the often stodgy potato salad is transformed from a blockish starch-nemesis to an elegant, sculptured stack of texture and space. An especially cute touch is the desert menu, which, with dishes like celeriac ice cream and rosemary cotton candy, strives to incorporate its earthy muse into every aspect of the experience. Note, Dirt Candy is mostly vegan, but they use some dairy and egg. However, you can request a vegan version of anything on the menut

New York’s classic delicacy, the pizza, is usually off limits to vegans due to its disastrous cheese content. Enter Paulie Gee’s, proudly holding aloft an entire menu of vegan options. Down a Vegan Schmoogula (Italian Tomatoes, Baby Arugula, Olive Oil, Post Oven Nutritional Yeast and Mild Aleppo Chili Oil) or any of their other special vegan specialties for the most fun you can have eating pizza without mozzarella.

With its vegan-friendly sushi bars, delis, curry houses and raw food restaurants to explore, New York is a smorgasbord of options for a vegan foodie getaway and you certainly won’t go hungry. Picking a restaurant, on the other hand? Now that’s going to be the tricky part…

To satisfy your sweet tooth, consider Babycakes bakery on the lower east side. Enjoy their vegan cupcakes, loaves, muffins, and brownies before doing the gallery crawl in this increasingly trendy neighborhood.

Here are some of the top vegetarian/vegan restaurants in NYC (and Brooklyn) as well as a few that offer a special vegan menu. There are many, many others; this is just a sampling of some of the most popular.

Angelica Kitchen – 300 East 12th Street by Second Avenue – Hearty, mostly vegan fare is served at one of the city’s longest-running restaurants of its kind.

2 Comments

Anthea

July 5, 2014 at 5:01 am

Thank you Nava, for your special website. from across an ocean you are helping to make mylife healthier, tastier, and helping me get a better hold of this vegan diet challenge.
And also, I have just printed off your page about NYC. I now am very excited and will one day visit these tasty places. Maybe even bring a little NYC vegan creativity and passion back to the uk. All the best to you.